Every person having legal capacity is entitled to participate in the government
of his country, directly or through his representatives, and to take part in
popular elections, which shall be by secret ballot, and shall be honest, periodic
and free.1

Article 16 of the Haitian Constitution proclaims that “Every Haitian may take
an active part in his country’s government, hold public office, or be appointed
to a government position, without distinction as to color, sex or religion,”
and Article 40 stipulates that “For the citizen, voting is not only a right
but an obligation imposed by his civic duty.”

A. LEGISLATIVE BRANCH

The 1964 Constitution established a uni-cameral legislature, and there has
been no subsequent amendment of this provision. The chamber of 58 deputies is
elected by a Primary Assembly according to conditions set by law. Geographical
representation has no place in the Constitution, whether in terms of population,
economic importance or number of registered voters. Haiti is still without permanent
electoral laws, but rather promulgates a new law each time the Executive finds
it necessary to call elections for local posts or for the Legislature. The legislators
serve for a six-year term: elections are held for new terms of office and to
replace those who resign, die, are dismissed, etc.

Electoral procedure is that the President of the Republic chooses and nominates
those citizens who are to be elected by the Primary Assembly; thus, the Legislature
is not in a position to exercise the powers granted it under the Constitution,
and does not represent the popular will, but rather the will of the Executive.

The legislative elections announced by the government, the first since the
elections at the beginning of the sixties, were held on February 11, 1979. Two
members of the opposition were candidates for seats in parliament. The candidate
from the city of Cap Haitien, who is opposed to the present regime, won easily
over his opponent, a former member of the President’s cabinet, who was supported
by the government. The candidate from the city of Port-au-Prince said after
his defeat that there had been irregularities and fraud in the elections.

B. EXECUTIVE

President François Duvalier was elected in accordance with Article 77 of the
Constitution of September 22, 1959, which stipulates that:

The President of the Republic shall be elected for six years. He may not be
re-elected immediately, and in no case may his term of office be extended.

Two other articles in that Constitution are interesting on the subject of
the presidential election.

The President of the Republic shall be elected by secret ballot, by direct
suffrage, by a majority of the votes cast by all electors of the “Republic”
(Article 88).

Four months before expiration of the President’s term of office, he shall
convoke the Primary Assemblies, which shall meet, as a result of this convocation,
or as established by law, on the first Sunday in April, in order to elect the
President of the Republic (Article 89).

The new Constitution adopted by the National Assembly in 1957 keeps this provision
on the form of electing the President and on his term of office.

Later, on April 30, 1961, the National Assembly became unicameral. The Legislature
that was thus created replaced the 1957 Constitution by the 1964 Constitution,
which gave much more extensive powers to the new President, and bestowed the
title of President-for-Life on François Duvalier (Article 196).

In January 1971, President Duvalier had the 1964 Constitution amended so that
his son, Jean Claude Duvalier, could replace him as President-for-Life. In order
to do this, it was necessary to change the minimum age, which had been 40, so
that his son, who was at that time 18 years old, could become President. Other
provisions were added also so that President François Duvalier could designate
his successor, also for life (Articles 102 and 104). This happened despite the
fact that Article 46 stipulates that “national sovereignty is vested in all
the citizens. The people shall exercise the prerogatives of sovereignty directly
by: 1. election of the President of the Republic.”

As a result, Haitians have had no say in choosing the head of the Executive
Branch for the last fifteen years. Freedom to participate in government is incompatible
with the institution of a presidency for life.

C. POLITICAL PARTIES

While it is true that Article 32 of the Constitution, which grants Haitians
the right of association, refers specifically to the creation of political parties,
it was seen in Chapter V that section 236(bis) of the Penal Code requires the
consent of the government in order to form a group of more than twenty persons.

In his interview with members of the Special Commission, the President responded
to a question about the absence of political parties in Haiti by saying that
there have never been any, and that he thought it would not be possible to form
any because the people were not prepared.

Sylvio Claude Case

At the beginning of July 1979, Sylvio Claude publicly announced the formation
of the Haitian Christian Democratic Party. This party, the Haitian Christian
Democratic Party of June 27 and the Haitian National Christian Party, were formed
during the period of liberalization of President Jean Claude Duvalier, and were
the first independent political parties in Haiti in the last two decades. The
Haitian Christian Democratic Party of June 27, founded by Grégoire Eugène, has
since ceased active operations because of government harassment, according to
Eugène.

On August 30, 1979, police arrived at the headquarters of the Christian Democratic
Party in Port-au-Prince with the purpose of arresting Sylvio Claude. Claude
escaped through a rear window although he suffered a gunshot wound in the hand.
He fled to Radio Station RGR and informed the radio audience about the attack
on the Christian Democratic Party and the attempt to arrest him. He also gave
details of his arrest at the beginning of the year and alleged that he had been
severely tortured at that time in the Dessalines barracks and that he feared
for his life. The police arrested Claude and Gérard Résil, Director of Radio
RGR, at the station at approximately 5 p.m. Résil was released the following
day, but only after a public apology. Claude was taken to the Dessalines barracks,
where it is presumed he is still being held.

Prior to his arrest on August 30, Claude had declared as a candidate in the
February 1979 elections for the constituency of Mirebalais. His opponent was
Madame Max Adolphe, a strong government supporter known for her interrogation
of political prisoners. Before the election, however, the government declared
Claude’s candidacy illegal and forced him to withdraw from the race. Shortly
thereafter, Claude was arbitrarily arrested by security police in civilian clothes,
accompanied by an army sergeant, and taken to the Dessalines barracks where
he claims he was beaten and tortured by electric shocks applied to the soles
of his feet. He was then summarily put on a plane to Colombia. He returned to
Haiti some months later.

In connection with the August arrest of Sylvio Claude, a group of police in
civilian clothes went to the office of the Christian Democratic Party where
they arrested Me. Dupleix Jn-Baptiste, Me. Valere Augustine and Me. Edouard
Franck, who happened to be there at the time. All three are members of the Haitian
League for Human Rights. They were taken to the Dessalines barracks where, it
is claimed, they were mistreated before being interrogated.

The allegations concerning the August arrest of Sylvio Claude were transmitted
to the government of Haiti on October 26, 1979.

The Claude case has been cited as a reflection of various phases of the current
situation of human rights in Haiti. First, the arrest of Claude and the ransacking
of the party headquarters can be seen as an attempt to stifle the fledgling
political parties. Moreover, it shows a judicial system that permits Claude
to be held without charges and without trial for more than three months. Finally,
the detention of Gérard Résil for the sole “crime” of having allowed a Haitian
citizen an opportunity to explain his predicament directly affects the right
to information and dissemination of ideas.

Notes_________________________

1 American Convention on Human Rights

Article 23. Right to Participate in Government

1. Every citizen shall enjoy the following rights and opportunities:

a. to take part in the conduct of public affairs, directly or through freely
chosen representatives;

b. to vote and to be elected in genuine periodic elections, which shall be
by universal and equal suffrage and by secret ballot that guarantees the free
expression of the will of the voters; and

c. to have access, under general conditions of equality, to the public service
of his country.

2. The law may regulate the exercise of the rights and opportunities referred
to in the preceding paragraph only on the basis of age, nationality, residence,
language, education, civil and mental capacity, or sentencing by a competent
court in criminal proceedings.